Did you know that 50 percent of consumers who conduct a local search visit that location within one day? According to Google, phrases such as “near me,” “closest,” and “nearby” are becoming more popular among the billions of searches on Google each month. As a result, it’s crucial for businesses to optimize their websites properly for local audiences. Here are a few simple tips to help ensure local consumers find your business.

USE AN SEO-FRIENDLY CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
First and foremost, using a search engine-friendly content management system (CMS) is crucial to your Internet presence and can have a direct impact on your performance. There are many elements that go into creating a good CMS, such as the URL structure, content headings, meta descriptions, and much more. Review your CMS and determine how it’s affecting your performance.

Target Local Audiences
When it comes to link building techniques, you want to target your local audience. After all, according to Google, consumers act very quickly after their local search. Therefore, if they find your business online, they’re more likely to visit your physical store or office. You’ll want to find a high-quality local website to submit guest posts to. You may need to do extensive research to find the best local websites with high-quality traffic, but it will prove to be worth it for your sales. To get started, find a list of sites that cover the same topics as you; one useful site to try is SimilarSiteSearch.com. Once you find sites similar to yours, connect with the site owners and see if they’ll be willing to post your content.
Another way to reach local audiences is through social media sites. By having a profile on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Pinterest, and other social platforms, you’re creating more opportunities for clicks and traffic to your website because social media occupies valuable space on search engines. Also, when you develop a social media audience, you can target them directly with new products, sales, or other advertisements.

Know the Importance of Google Maps
According to Google, 88 percent of users search for local businesses on their smartphones. When searching for your business, there are a few key items that a potential customer might want to know like: your address, phone number, and hours of operation. These can all be found on your Google Maps listing. Among those who search using their smartphone, 54 percent look for business hours, 53 percent look for directions, and 50 percent search for the local store address. So, if you haven’t created your local business listing on Google yet, now is the time to do so.

Find and Reclaim Links
There could be many mentions of your site on the Internet, but if it doesn’t link back to your site, it’s not doing you much good. An important task, that can at times be a little tedious, is to find these mentions and ask if they’ll link back to you. Fortunately, there are link reclamation tools such as RankTank to help make things easier. Once you find out that a mention does not link back to you, consider whether it’s important to your SEO. If so, contact the webmaster of the site and ask if they’d be willing to make the change.

Build a Rapport with Local Influence
What better way to target your local audience than by having other businesses in your area link to your site? However, it works both ways. It’s important to build a good rapport by also linking to their sites. This can help you become a valuable resource for businesses in your local area. It’s that simple.

Conclusion
It’s no secret that local searches are increasing among the billions of searches on Google every day. That is why local search engine optimization techniques are crucial to your business. Following a few simple tips can help increase your sales, and that includes having a social media presence. Reaching out to your local audience on sites like Facebook and Twitter can also help increase your search engine visibility.